My First Argon

[ApexProxy]

So after getting an HeNe for the first time I decided that I wanted to give Argons a try. I am very glad I did that is for sure. Dave is such a great guy he even delivered the laser to my house himself and that is much appreciated. The laser and power supply are freaking giant. I was totally not expecting them to be that massive at all. After a few hours of tinkering and splicing in new power cables I fired the beast up. I have to admit that it is significantly brighter than I expected. The color is magnificent and because the wavelength is closing in on the peak 505nm visibility the beam and dot are very bright for only being about 25mW(yet to be metered by me). I will have to test it out on my Ophir tomorrow for sure. Anyway, here are some pictures I snapped of its first run in my possession:

The color picked up by my camera is a little lighter blue than it is in reality but otherwise it is pretty darn close. After running the laser for a good 15 minutes it gets COOKING hot and my room was an easy 5 degrees warmer even with my door and window open at night. I already know this is going to be my favorite winter laser for sure.

Also, if you missed it I got my first HeNe the other day, the thread is here:
http://laserpointerforums.com/f43/my-first-hene-d-84446.html

 

[Sigurthr]

Congrats on your first ion laser! Yep, they're space heaters all right!

 

[ApexProxy]

This PSU is so badass that when I replaced the main AC power cable I used an 18AWG cable and didn't realize that it could not handle the load and started to get warm(barely) to the touch after ~15 minutes of runtime. That's freaking insane, I saw the 20A rating on the PSU but I never thought that it would actually draw nearly that much :banghead:. It's a power cable that came with a 750W computer power supply. Seriously a 2300W power supply for a 25mW laser... the fk :crackup:

Gotta love lasers with a 0.001% efficiency.

I now have a 14AWG cable on the way to replace it with. I would have liked to use 12AWG but I can't one for less than $75. Also thinking about it I believe the power cable I have on the way is higher gauge than the wires in the walls of my house...

I am now officially naming this laser "The Beast" XD

 

[daguin]

You're fast!

Good job

Peace,
dave

 

[ApexProxy]

Ha I had it up and running in less than two hours. It wasn't all that difficult. Today I opened the PSU up and blasted out the dust with my compressor so its all nice and clean. The laser head was pretty damn clean already but I blew it out a bit anyway.

Thanks again for the sweet deal Dave.

 

[mwang]

Nice to see that you finally got one of these beasts! That color of the beam looks awesome. Just wondering, how much did it cost?

 

[ApexProxy]

I'm glad I got it too. If it wasn't such a heater I would have it running way more often. Dave sold it to me for $150 with shipping.

 

[Cyparagon]

I used an 18AWG

...a 2300W power supply

In commercial power cords, 18 awg isn't usually used for loads over ~7A.

How do you figure 2300W?

 

[Things]

I thought those small heads were usually around 8-10A @ 100V? Should only be pulling 1kW or so.

 

[ApexProxy]

I'm not actually certain what it draws but it warms up an 18AWG cable quickly. Also, I got 2300W from the label on the PSU: 115V 20A. I do have an AC power meter that could tell me how many watts it draws from the wall though.

 

[n2stuff]

Welcome to the club !!! They are the best looking space heater you will ever own.

 

[ApexProxy]

Yeah no kidding. No joke I plan to use it as one in the winter lol.

488nm is officially my favorite wavelength. It looks totally awesome next to a 445nm which makes 488nm look a really cool blue green compared to the vivid blue of the 445nm. Next to a 520nm it looks like ice blue. I wish they would make 488nm diodes...

 

[daguin]

Yeah no kidding. No joke I plan to use it as one in the winter lol.

488nm is officially my favorite wavelength. It looks totally awesome next to a 445nm which makes 488nm look a really cool blue green compared to the vivid blue of the 445nm. Next to a 520nm it looks like ice blue. I wish they would make 488nm diodes...

They do, but they are VERY costly for now

Peace,
dave

 

[ARG]

Looks good!

I would love to have an argon. It's one club I need to join.

I'm worried I would forget to run it every so often, I'm used to killing diodes, but I would hate to kill a gas laser.

 

[Sigurthr]

Word is the cylindrical Uniphase heads can sit for years and still fire up like new if they have low to moderate hours.

 

[ApexProxy]

According to the counter the head has about 4K hours on it but AFAIK that's not all that much for these right?

Also, I was wondering if anyone knows where I could get a controller for the PSU. Here are some closer pics if they are any help: